MIDDLETOWN >> A former city nightclub owner is suing the police department, the Berlin Police Department and the Board of Firearms Permit Examiners over their denial of his application for a pistol permit, alleging that the board considered improper and irrelevant evidence before refusing his request.

Gaetano Bramato filed suit in Middlesex Superior Court on Nov. 10, charging that the Middletown Police Department received information that should have been erased from the Berlin Police Department. After Middletown denied his application, the BFPE upheld the decision at an Oct. 23 hearing, according to Bramato’s civil complaint.

Bramato is asking the court to reverse the police and board’s decision.

Bramato’s attorney, Mark Balaban, argued that the police departments and the BFPE misinterpreted a legal precendent by neglecting to erase the information and by considering it while making their determination.

A Sept. 10 letter from Middletown Chief William McKenna read that a “background investigation revealed that you were involved in a violent domestic disturbance in the town of Berlin in November of 2012. Your participation in the disturbance caused physical, emotional and property damages that, in part, were pre-planned and unnecessarily imposed on your victims.”

“Your application is being classified as ‘denied’ based on ‘suitability,’” wrote McKenna.

Balaban argued that Bramato “has absolutely no criminal record whatsoever,” and that the Berlin materials should never have been a factor.

Berlin Patch reported in November 2012 that Bramato had been arrested in Berlin for burglary, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. A search of the state judicial branch’s online database revealed no convictions or pending charges against Bramato.

Balaban wrote that the police departments had misinterpreted a legal precedent. He said that the opinion, Penvield v. Venuty, “allows in evidence of an arrest without conviction only when it used to establish a witness’ bias, interest or motive to testify falsely, which was not the circumstance in the present case.”

No attorney has yet filed an appearance on behalf of either city or the BFPE.

Brig Smith, general counsel for Middletown, was not available for comment by press time Tuesday.